5 And A Beagle
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Nonna Rosina
Back in May I posted a picture of the cross stitch I had done for my husband's nonna (grandmother) in Italy. Here is a picture of Nonna Rosina wearing a shawl that I had made for her back in September.
Does this sweet woman look like she will soon be 95? I think, at 50 years her junior, I've got more - shall we say -- character lines on my face.
Up until 2 years ago, she was still fairly active and independent, but now she isn't able to walk and is pretty much confined to her bed. Nonna has lived an amazing life full of both joy and sorrow. She is still living in the same modest house in northern Italy that she moved into in 1929 as a 19 year old bride. The same house in which she gave birth to 9 babies, only 7 of them surviving infancy. The same house barely big enough for 4, where at times 9 lived sharing the space, on the lower level, with their farm animals. The same house where in 1958, 1962 and 1964 she bid farewell to 4 of her children as they left Italy for Canada. And the same house where in 1965, she laid her husband out in his finest clothes and prepared for his funeral mass.
Nonna Rosina has the love and caring of her 6 remaining children (1 passed away last year) as well as 11 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. And while they are a family not unlike any other in that they've had their share of differences through the years, I think they realize the blessing they have in Nonna, and she in them. In the end, what more can you ask for?
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Does this sweet woman look like she will soon be 95? I think, at 50 years her junior, I've got more - shall we say -- character lines on my face.
Up until 2 years ago, she was still fairly active and independent, but now she isn't able to walk and is pretty much confined to her bed. Nonna has lived an amazing life full of both joy and sorrow. She is still living in the same modest house in northern Italy that she moved into in 1929 as a 19 year old bride. The same house in which she gave birth to 9 babies, only 7 of them surviving infancy. The same house barely big enough for 4, where at times 9 lived sharing the space, on the lower level, with their farm animals. The same house where in 1958, 1962 and 1964 she bid farewell to 4 of her children as they left Italy for Canada. And the same house where in 1965, she laid her husband out in his finest clothes and prepared for his funeral mass.
Nonna Rosina has the love and caring of her 6 remaining children (1 passed away last year) as well as 11 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. And while they are a family not unlike any other in that they've had their share of differences through the years, I think they realize the blessing they have in Nonna, and she in them. In the end, what more can you ask for?
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